Every X-Men Movie Villain Ranked Worst To Best
5. Sebastian Shaw & The Hellfire Club
Appeared In: X-Men: First Class
Another scientist with nefarious designs on mutants AND homo sapiens in equal measure, Sebastian Shaw's evil comes from the fact that he's an equal opportunities villain. He hates everyone equally.
In contrast to all other X-Men franchise villains, he's almost like a Bond villain, running a casino as a front for his evil empire, living opulently as he fostered plans for global dominion. He's a ruthless, cold monster with a deliciously dark vein of panache and ultimately, while he forged Magneto out of pain, he ends up being his inspiration to believe in mutant superiority. Great performance by Kevin Bacon too.
Perhaps some of the Hellfire Club deserve a mention of their own - like Emma Frost - but they're ultimately under-developed consciously because of their relationships with Shaw. Angel Salvadore, Riptide and Azazel might look the part, but we never really get much of their backstories and they're ultimately just flashy mooks. Shaw is the real deal.